Engraved in both English and Japanese, was the name of someone Mirio would need on his side going forward.

[ Principal Nezu ]

Mirio rolled his shoulders, flexed every hard earned muscle on his body for five seconds, then slowly inhaled before letting any tension leave his body in a long exhale.

 

He reached a hand up to knock on the door, only for the squeak of someone's voice to stop him.

"Come in."

The game had already started.

The timing of Nezu's demand should have thrown him off, should have made him hesitate, should have made his eyebrows shoot up in surprise; but Mirio knew better.

He opened the door, taking measured steps forward before setting his suitcase down on the broad mahogany desk and holding out a hand.

"Hello Principal Nezu, it's nice to meet you, my name is Mirio Togata."

The rodent cocked his head slightly, adjusted his black tie, smoothed out the wrinkles in his vest, and only after did he finally reach out and take the handshake.

Mirio was gentle, and he didn't plan for a petty show of strength by gripping hard, nor did he hold longer than necessary to potentially stare the principal down. 

He just simply shook hands, since they would soon be colleagues after all, and first impressions with Nezu counted doubly so.

"Hello Mirio," Nezu paused, "Ah apologies, I always have the habit of being a bit to friendly right off the bat."

The principal made his next calculated move.

Mirio didn't falter though, "Mirio is fine, I don't mind at all."

Nezu hummed in acknowledgement, gathering papers spread across his desk before neatly putting them in a pile. Of course, on top of the pile, Mirio's legal records could be seen, the image of his face clearly visible and depicting a picture of him smiling brightly.

"Now." Nezu began. "Shota Aizawa, your friend and debt holder that led you here, has seemingly done away with his stubbornness to fulfill a single favor."

Nezu took a glance out the far window that spanned floor to ceiling, "A favor from you to be exact. Is this correct?"

Mirio nodded, "Yes."

A simple answer, enough to make the Chimera pause, contemplating quietly to himself before continuing.

"Then, you must also see why I have trouble wrapping my head around a simple question. Why? Why did you ask one of UA's finest teachers to step down from teaching the next batch of first years? I dearly hope it is not for any personal vendetta."

Mirio leaned back, "Of course not sir, quite the opposite, I was hoping to help UA in fact. Shota is a splendid teacher, rough around the edges sure, but those same edges are plenty hard enough to refine students into some of the best heroes to appear in the last five years."

Nezu nodded along, "Then, and to be rather blunt Mirio. If what you say is true, why should I pick you over him?"

Mirio's open hands balled into a fists, breathing slow as be wondered how Nezu would react if he just up and said he came from an alternate universe and also had future knowledge to boot. The fact that he had died, been taken here for only God knows why, and was trying to stop a war and the collapse of society as they know it.

The likely answer was rejection, and a possibly subconscious repulsion to never speak to Mirio ever again.

The smaller, almost impossible response to him saying it?

Cooperation.

However, Mirio could not—would not— stake pretty much a decade of planning and hard work on the slim chance Nezu was understanding about his circumstances.

So, instead, he opened the briefcase he had brought. 

Silently, he took out exactly fourteen pages from the stack inside and handed them to Nezu.

He waited patiently, watching as the Prinicpal leisurely took them and read, nodding occasionally but for the most part donning a look of confusion.

"14 cases of missing persons, no correlation besides all disappearing seemingly out of nowhere? Is this your counter? This is your full hand Mirio, it is, confusing to say the least..."

Mirio chuckled lightly at that, "No principal, take a moment to read everything, they are a lot more correlated them most think."

"Hmm." A minute or so passed in relative silence before Nezu's beady eyes glimmered. "I see, none of them have any traces, leads to follow, signs of struggle, residue from Emitter Quirks, fluctuations with energy, DNA, not even sounds of any altercations possibly picked up by cameras. A tried a true method of kidnapping that leaves not a single speck of evidence at all. I can see now why you could assume they are all from the same perpetrator, but again, why does this matter?"

Mirio swallowed hard, taking a few moments to really think through his next words. However, he threw away any anxiety and steeled his resolve. 

"All for One is still alive, gathering Quirks, and becoming stronger."

Nezu, for the first time ever, froze stalk still. The tension grew ten fold, and suddenly a sheet of metal slammed down in the door entrance and also the window; sealing Mirio inside.

Nezu hadn't even done the cliche of pushing a button or saying a phrase, no, without a second to spare Mirio was now 'trapped'.

"I may be a Principal first and foremost, but behind that is a teacher willing to do anything to protect his students, and even deeper beneath that; is a pro Hero who will not hesitate Togata."

It seemed their first name basis status was gone, Nezu practically glaring forward while Mirio tensed slightly.

He anticipated this, so as calmly as possible, he played his next card.

"Read page seven."

Nezu scoffed, "I can remember it clearly Togata, a missing teacher, January 2nd. Elaborate why this matters."

"Her Quirk, do you remember it?"

Nezu watched Mirio's every move, picked apart his cadence, scanned through each twitch and eye movement he made before speaking.

"Quirk: Frequency, allows her to take sounds and convert them to different frequencies on command...."

Nezu visibly let his thoughts show as the glare  he wore shifted to confusion, contemplation, then finally worry.

Mirio nodded, "Her Quirk would be perfect to make sure no sounds leak out, a way to kidnap people without a single noise being picked up at all."

Nezu tapped his paw on the table In thought, "She could very well have just been coaxed by a group to help them Mirio. For all we know she is part of a villain group and simply using her Quirk to aide them. Perhaps even forced against her will to do so, this does not necessarily mean the use of multiple Quirks, or that 'he' is still around."

"Sorry Nezu, but I used that same train of thought already." Mirio hummed. "She is happily married, five years going strong. Has two kids that she loves, seeing as she took them to an amusement park a day before her disappearance. No need for revenge, again, seeing as her entire family is alive, and no legal disputes have been documented under her last name. She has no reason for money, since she is a stay at home mother, and her husband is a lawyer. They had their honeymoon a week prior, left to visit Italy. She has not a single reason to leave her comfortable life to persue Villainy. She may be forced against her will, but what I am going to show you will change your mind."  

Mirio took out a tablet from the suitcase, propping it up with the stand on its case and turning it on.

The screen already depicted the telltale signs of security footage, the bright sun visible as crowds of people moved about in the streets of Hosu. One man was pointed out in particular, seeing as he was number eight going in chronological order of people disappearing.

With a press, the video played, showing thirty seconds of nothing particular, until the middle aged man stepped into an alley to take a shortcut home.

He would never appear again.

Mirio rewinded the footage before the man stepped into the alley, tapping a few buttons before pressing play again.

The bustle of the city could be heard, cars honking, bike bells singing, the constant chatter of conversation. It was all there, it was all normal, nothing looked suspicious. Mirio paused the video, showing Nezu as he changed it to a different frequency recording that Mirio himself put on the cameras he set around to get a clue where All for One was.

All was quiet, Nezu leaning forward in anticipation, only to lean back in repulsion when he heard someone speak.

"Akito Fuyu." 

Nezu shuddered, knowing he could never forget that voice.

"Who the hell are-" Akito's words stopped

"Shhhh." All for One's mockingly hushed him "I apologize but I will be taking you and that delicious Quirk of yours. Apologies."

The video stopped playing, Mirio didn't fancy hearing the screams for the thousandth time, he had enough torment dying from the man himself.

Nezu audibly swallowed, "I see."

Mirio let the Principal have his moment to think, conversing with Nana in his head while he waited patiently.

"Can I trust you?" Nezu asked when he met Mirio's gaze. "You seemingly disappeared at the age of ten, came back eight years later with muscles that people can envy and with the ability to fly. I will not speculate or pry, since I myself have been experimented on, but if Aizawa can vouch for you, it is enough."

Mirio grinned, "We are on the same side, we both want him gone... for good."

Nezu smiled.

"Yes, well then." Mirio almost jumped for joy at the words he heard next. "You're hired."

Although, he deflated at the next thing uttered by Nezu.

"However, I still need to interview you and you also need to meet my standards as a regular teacher, plus paperwork to fill out. Oh Joy!"

'Great,' Nana started, 'Paperwork.'

Mirio silently wept.